FRIENDS GATHERED FOR the soft opening of the Asia Art Archives (AAA) earlier this month. Among the guests were performance artists Frog King (alias Kwok Mang-ho) and Tsang Tak-ping, gallery owners John Batten and Johnson Chang Tsong-zung and art patron Jessica Ogilvy-Stuart, the wife of Bloomberg's boss in Hong Kong, James Ogilvy-Stuart. An event that began with polite conversation over sips of champagne progressed into feverish drinking and 'lots of people throwing and wrapping each other in recycled streamers from the performance by the Frog King', according to AAA director Claire Hsu. Her parents, Ronald and Johanna Arculli, were delighted by the event's performances. For the past year they have been encouraging Hsu's endeavours for the AAA, which is partially funded by the Arts Development Council. Hsu says she agreed to help promote art in Hong Kong after receiving a call from Hanart TZ Gallery's Chang, just as she had made a down payment for her mortgage on a flat in London. But she returned to the SAR in the name of art.
